Questions, I reckon...
Rom 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Rom 4:4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
Rom 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Rom 4:6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
Rom 4:7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
Rom 4:8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
Rom 4:9 Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.
Rom 4:10 How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
Rom 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:
Rom 4:12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
When Paul uses all this 'accounting jargon' what does he mean?
When are we justified? -
When our account reaches zero?
When our account has the righteousness of Christ as a debit?
When some of our own righteous works are debited? Can we even contribute?
How far above zero do we have to be to be saved?
If we are imputed, counted or reckoned to be debt free, are we also imputed, counted, reckoned to have a positive balance on account?
If so, how much, who put it there, and whose is it?
posted by Looking Upward @ 4/17/2008 09:10:00 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
When are we justified?
The fact of justification is explained by Jesus in Luke 18:9-13. The theology of it is explained in Romans 3-5, which you have drawn from.
The central question of all your listed questions is, "When are we justified?"
As a young boy, I recall asking my dad this same kind of question at marriage ceremonies. I would ask, "When was the couple married?" Was it when the preacher said so? When they kissed? When the engagement took place? When they concluded their mutual vows?
Without meaning to be unnecessarily graphic, a marriage is not a marriage until the unique, irreversible, virginal condition is consummated in "union". The forensic reality of marriage takes place in the marriage chamber, not in the expressed intentions of the couple. (This is not meant to undervalue the vow, the ceremony, the engagement, etc., but none of those things constitutes marriage proper. Marriage is defined by Scripture as the two becoming one flesh.)
Justification is no different. "It is a forensic reality that takes place in the court of God, not in the heart of the sinner. In other words, justification is an instantaneous change of one's standing before God, not a gradual transformation that takes place within one who is justified."
We observe this function in the human court. A man standing before the judge does not dare to move from his position until the gavel is brought down. There is a singular moment when the declaration is issued and the party charged is dismissed.
Like marriage, that defining moment is constituted by imputation. The husband imputes his life to the bride, and she becomes known to him.
Christ's righteousness is imputed to me, creating New Life, and I become known to Him (the antithesis of which is expressed in Matt. 7:23) with all my sin (my sin being imputed to Him – 2 Cor. 5:20-21.)
In eternity, that justifying moment for every saved person remains fixed at the Cross. (Being “justified” means being “not condemned”. Rom. 8:1 makes it clear that God's attitude toward us changed because of Christ's work, which we are "in", therefore no longer remaining in our own futile work.) The Cross is where and when the Christian's justification happened. That is when the gavel was brought down and the words were uttered, "It is finished".
Yet, there is an operative element in all of this that the mortal human is aware of. That element is called "faith". Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Faith is the qualitative substance that a person experiences in salvation. The question, of course, is, "Where does that faith come from?
I am persuaded that scripture plainly teaches that faith comes only from God, and is not of ourselves (lest we should boast.)
So, when are we justified? We are justified at the Cross. But the question most Christians are really asking is, "When does my sanctification begin?"
When does sanctification begin? I think Scripture teaches us that sanctification begins when faith is exercised in the justifying work of Christ. You must have both justification and sanctification to articulate the fullness of what salvation is. To miss this point risks committing the error of antinomianism", where salvation is viewed as justification existing apart from sanctification.
The idea that our “heavenly accounting balance” is negative because of sin is a valid idea. But antinomianism can be demonstrated in the idea that justification brings our account to zero and leaves us there, ostensibly saved. That is still a damning position: if the account balance reaches zero because of justification, that person is about as saved as the third person in the parable of the talents. That man was judges to be a wicked slave, and was cast into outer darkness as "worthless" - a zero balance is worthless. Such a person, according to James, has a dead faith, and a dead faith cannot save. Sanctification is the process by which our faith is demonstrated to be a "living faith", and we accrue a positive balance ("treasure in heaven") on the account as we are set apart from sin. We are set apart from sin by God through various trials and tribulations, which we count as joy because the end result is our perfecting (James 1:2-4.)
Unlike justification, which is a legal declaration, sanctification is the thing I suspect you are trying to quantify. Yet, again, it must be emphasized that God provides the sanctification (“being conformed to the image of His Son”) as scripture teaches in Rom. 8:29-30. Even though one may assert that a legal marriage exists, the bride is incapable of producing new life without the seminal work of the bridegroom. So it is with salvation.
Great Questions LU, and a great comment Breformed. Our consumation occurs at the cross when the wrath of God is poured out on the Son. What is interesting is that Paul later tells us in Rns 8:29-30 that in a 'timeframe' concept this justification occured in eternity past starting with the word 'foreknew'.
I believe Paul is telling us in 1 Cor 15:12-19 and in Rms 5:10 that having a zero sum balance is not 'enough' to justify us. We are told there that without the resurrection of Christ we are at that zero balance and still left in jeoporady.
1 Cor 15:12-19 says without the resurrection of Christ:
1. Preaching is in vain (vs. 13)
2. Faith is in vain (vs. 13)
3. We are liars (vs. 14)
4. Faith is worthless (vs. 17)
5. YOU ARE STILL IN YOUR SINS (v 17)
6. Perish without Christ (v. 18)
7. Pitiful men (v. 19)
Notice that 5th point. If Christ is not raised we are still in our sins.
Its the same concept of Rms 5:10 -"For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
The resurrection of Christ proves that Christ was not just some friend dying for friends (Jn 15:13), He was the creator God paying an eternal punishment poured out for eternity, but He overcame it all because being God He is beyond eternal. That is why all authority has been given to Him.
I am in the process of reading a book by John Piper called "Counted Righteous in Christ", which is a sort of exposition of Romans 4. I would suggest you pick up a copy, it is excellent reading (though detailed). The summation is this: When our sins our imputed to Christ, His full righteousness is imputed to us (i.e. we are imputed with a positive balance).
If our account has a positive balance because of imputation - our sins were transferred to Christ and his righteousness was transferred to us, my question remains in this form: what is my/your account balance?
Is mine different from yours?
Why? Because you started out further in the hole than I? Or, was it the works that I have done have had a debit impact on my account? Or is the gift of faith that God has given to me somehow in larger measure than yours?
Why wouldn't we all have the exact same balance? If it ain't our righteousness, then it don't matter if it is one dollar or a million bucks.
I am not sure that is the point that Paul is trying to make. I believe in Rms 4 he is simply (though profoundly) saying that at the point in which faith is exercised (via the gift of God - Eph 2:8,9), our sins are imputed to Christ (Cancelling our debt), and His righteousness is imputed to us (giving us a positive balance). Christ imputes no more righteousness to me then he does to you are anyone else. Of course God forgave some men/women more then others, that is the point of several of Christ's parables, but what does that matter to you or me…all we know is that we have had our debts paid for just the same.
What you and I do with this newly given nature and faith may be different and therefore accrue more or less to our benefit and God's glory. 1 Cor 3:12-15 tells us that our works done after being built on the foundation of Christ (v. 11) - so these are works of sanctification - will be tested by the fire. The good works of precious stone will remain and the wood, hay and straw will be burnt up, but the person will be saved. This tells me that the good works we do in sanctification will mean that those who do more of the precious stone work will accrue a greater reward (or you could say a larger account balance) then those that do not.
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